Heat oven to 350°F. Line 15x10x1-inch pan with foil; spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. Pierce sweet potatoes several times with fork. Place in pan. Bake about 1 hour 15 minutes or until tender. Cool 10 minutes. When potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel potatoes and cut out any eyes or dark spots.

2.

Meanwhile, cook bacon as desired until crisp; chop. In small bowl, mix bread crumbs and 1 tablespoon butter; set aside.

3.

In large bowl, mash potatoes with potato masher. Stir in chopped bacon, sour cream, 1/4 cup butter, the onions, salt and pepper until well blended. Spread mixture in baking dish, or form individual servings in dish with 1/2-cup ice cream scoop or measuring cup. Sprinkle crumb mixture evenly over top.

4.

Bake 20 to 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated and bread crumbs just begin to brown.

If you want to make your own bread crumbs, this is the time to clear out your cupboards. These are some of the random foods that I have run through the food processor to make mine. All kinds of breads, crackers, chips, some seasonings. The parmesan cheese was because I was making chicken parmesan. Don't think that would be good on these sweet spuds! Trust me on this one, you can make much better crumbs than you can buy. If you want to just use breads, start drying it out now!

Bountiful baskets strikes again! This morning someone looked over at the cauliflower and asked, is that really the color or is it the lights? Oh, it's just the lights . . . NOT! We had orange cauliflower . . . . really! A few months ago, we got the green and I quite enjoyed it, in fact, I have tried to find it in stores since then. We got a kick out of the color and tonight I finally got the time to look it up. Pretty interesting reading, and can you believe the purple?

The orange, purple and green cauliflowers that scientists claim could be healthier for you

Scientists have developed amazing variants of vegetable where the traditional white florets have been changed to a garish orange, purple and green.

The "rainbow cauliflowers" are said to taste the same as the normal varieties, but add a splash of colour to the dinner table.

Some scientists have even claimed that they are healthier for you.

Andrew Coker, a spokesman for the plant company Syngenta - which is developing the plants in Europe - stressed that the colourful cauliflowers were not the result of genetic engineering, but came after decades of traditional selective breeding.

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Cauli-ful: The green, orange and purple varieties of cauliflower

Although its not the first time that orange and green cauliflowers have been seen in Britain, their creators say they will be the first to be commercially available in supermarkets and markets.

They retain their colour even after cooking. "The pictures may look garish, but they are really are this colourful," said Mr Coker.

"Consumers are looking for ever new experiences on their dinner plates and colour features very large in their desire for different things.

"These are the results of traditional selective breeding - where different strains have been cross breed and cross bred until these strains have been created.

"We are now trying to ensure that we have the consistency of colour, taste and size before bringing them to the mass market. But you will find them in smaller outlets from this year."

In tests, the garish cauliflowers have proved a hit with shoppers.

While traditionalists may baulk at the unusual colours, it is not the first time that plant breeders have changed the appearance of vegetables.

Until the 17th century most carrots eaten Europe were white, yellow or purple. The orange pigment was added by Dutch plant breeders looking for a way to celebrate Holland's royal family.

The last few years has seen the introduction of purple carrots to supermarkets in Britain, along with yellow tomatoes and purple potatoes.

In America, where colour cauliflowers have been available for several years, they have been a big hit with foodies. The orange cauliflower has higher than normal levels of beta carotene, a form of vitamin A that encourages healthy skin.

The purple colour comes from anthocyanin, which may help prevent heart disease by slowing blood clotting.

Tests of the orange cauliflowers in America found that they contained 25 times the concentrations of beta carotene in normal cauliflowers.

For some ideas using your funny colored cauliflower or even your boring white stuff, look HERE.

About Me

For over fifty years, I have seemed to spend a lot of my time in the kitchen. First, it was the usual “helping Mommy” whether it was everyday meals or canning. Mom wasn’t really into cooking, so I had to create my own kitchen adventures. As the years went by, I enjoyed it more and more. Fortunately, my family have been pretty good sports about my experiments!
Canning fruit in Utah led to huge gardens as a wife and mother, canning meat when it was too good of a price to pass up . . . Oops! No freezer . . . DUH! Finding that these activities have blessed my family repeatedly led me to this point.
Life experiences, working in a church cannery for three years and serving as cannery specialist two times have brought me to the point of sharing what I have learned. The most important lesson being, keep an open mind and always be ready to learn from others. Be sure to check out the links I have in the side bar of the blog!!!